Drawing out the designs went pretty quick. They were pretty simple. I was fairly decent at drawing blueprints, thanks to a degree in engineering. I made a silent prayer of thanks for the hours spent in classes on design and drafting. The one that was intended for the burst field combo was designed in the shape of a Cestus, maybe a little larger… buckler-ish? After consulting with Erin we included to spots for the emitter points to be, one pointing forward, the other would be on the back of the hand. The last one was a little trickier. I wanted it to be able to be held like a lance, a greatsword, or a giant shield used for ramming or holding a position. We created a kind of interconnect more between the two, where the cestus was locked into the top of the 2hnded emitter. Erin was sure that by linking the two I could get my desired result with little chance of it overloading. One of the special features to the 2hnder was a sort of Aether capacitor it allowed me to release it and it would maintain its shape for a little while. Nothing crazy, but it could last for a few minutes on a single charge. The bonus was that I could preload it while it was docked into its holder. The same went for the cestus, but that was only included after we designed the docking mechanism. It would ultimately give the shield a quick setup and extra durability. Then Erin took me by surprise.

“So we haven’t really included any features for the FFE modules, or really included for that matter. We could use part of the storage design to make a rechargeable ‘one-off’ for use with the FFE. A limited use, due to recharging needs, toggle for some of your modules. I think that would fit your theme of flexibility and options. I’ve noticed you like an ace up your sleeve. I think this could fit that bill.”

“Honestly, I had forgotten all about the FFE functionality. We only really tested it by itself. I know making things complicated just gives things more ways to break, but could we include an extra charge for some of these to store preloaded elemental charges? This charging mechanism might be able to give me even more utility. What about storing a couple of charges for my ‘shotgun’? Say 5? Could we possibly do a large storage for the shoulder mounts? Either separate or as one big pool? What about a redundancy charge for the main field unit?”

“Well considering your other design utilities, I do agree that it would be an exceptionally useful upgrade. Normally we wouldn’t use this many as it does provide dangers for rupturing, but if we set up a major microarray of 8 micro focuses, we could run an efficient charging function. You will have to route and toggle things more manually, which might slow down activations if you fully drain any of these storages. We can’t really store elemental inputs, not in the sense of just assigning it, but if you intentional charge one of these with an elemental load it should maintain it. It will be something you have to plan for. I can see this Rig being extremely powerful, but the downside of that is the requirement for lots of resource management. If you think you can handle it. I think it may revolutionize some of the current design trends. So let’s get down to charges, uptime, how to precharge with elements, and the other finer details. “

After about 2 hours of hammering out pro’s and con’s regarding the systems, we had come to a decision on some test plans regarding my personal rig. We were going to hold charges for 7 total quarrels for the right arm 3 would be for elemental preloads. The preloads had to be manually reloaded, the other 4 standard shots would charge over time using the large microarray. I could direct more Aether recharge to any 2 systems, but that would decrease the charge rates for everything else. It allowed me to be more mission or role critical if need be, but still have options. The left arm only had 5 total shots after tweaking. 2 would be elemental preloads. We found that with the lower consumption high output, that they, according to the math, should recharge faster, than the quarrels. A whopping 50 percent faster per shot. The back mounts each had 3 total shots, 1 of those 3 would be again for an elemental preload. These had the longest charge lengths due to the large requirement that Erin determined they would need for an average shot. She did seem to think we could overcharge at the time of firing if the Aether flow was adjusted. That would give them a maximum of 2 shots apiece. The shields mounted on the forearms had an active measure by the length of deployment. 10 minutes of continuous operation per arm shield. If I was alternating back and forth I could manage continuous shield deployment. There was a pulse function that would have the shields either temporarily become electrified or repulse attacks using a force pulse, light burst, or metal spikes. We talked about applying entropy to the spikes, to break down things it came into contact with, but Erin could not isolate the emitter enough to not have it not break itself down under simulation. She said she would continue working on it. The trickiest was the main large field focus. We devoted a direct portion of the large array to it, so if I was having it run continuously that it would be the system that stayed up or recovered the fastest. If I had it running continuously with no active depletions it would just maintain the levels, but as it took attacks, depending on the mode it would deplete faster. The most costly was the ‘bubble’ shield, followed by my active denial mode. The bulwark mode was dependent on size and distance of deployment, but it was peanuts in comparison to the other modes. We also included some detachable pod batteries for deployment in active denial traps or emplaced defense points. They didn’t last a super long time, but depending on how close I was they could be directed to recharge through a kind of wireless charging system. The wielded weapons had more ambiguous charge meters, we tried to consider how to specify things more, but we found during simulation tests the more we specified, the more we ran into efficiency problems. I would just have to learn the consumption rates of different modes and configurations. I could start recharging them just by holstering them, so there was that. I sat back and looked at the specs. I think this can work. Yeah... It is going to take some juggling, but juggling resources is what I did day in and day out on the front lines. I can work with this.

“Erin I think we got this.”

“It looks good and stable, but we will need to test it. We still might have quirks and kinks to work out.”

“We’ll work out the kink. Kinks, yeah we’ll get that tied down in testing.” Finding myself a little taken by the young engineer and flirting before I had really thought about it... I know it sounds cavalier, but as those poetics fops go on about, the heart wants, what the heart wants.

As the thought entered her brain and registered, I caught just a moment of blushing as she turned away. “We could take a break and grab a bite to eat.” She paused as she turned towards the monitor for the training area. Noticing that the two Crew members were exiting the recovery pods finally. “Looks like we might get a few more minutes of peace before they come looking for you. They are just exiting the pods now.”

“What? When did they get in pods?”

“Sometime after their third duel things got sloppy and they started getting hurt, by the 5th both of them were bloody and either limping or clutching an arm. I assumed they either stopped then or after a 7th. The after action report from the pods shows nothing serious, but the cumulative damage was certainly extensive.”

“Yikes, they apparently had a lot to work out. I’m hoping I’m not expected to do that as some sort of hazing. Not a fan of the hot-headed way of doing things.”

“Well, shall we grab a coffee and a bite to eat, before we start Rig testing?”

“Sounds fantastic. I could certainly go for something with either caffeine or alcohol in it.”

“The bar doesn’t show up except during downtime intervals, that doesn’t start for another 4ish hours. Pretty good selection for a temporal bar if I say so myself. I do have some cold brew coffee in the fridge. I think that should scratch that caffeine itch.”

“Say no more. I can tell you either drink in quantity or quality, either way, it should work out.”

“Who says I don’t do both. I have a personally managed coffee growing lot. Has some of the best beans in the world. I make my own custom blends, and either I or 1 of 2 highly trained staff do the roasting. This batch I roasted myself. It’s one part mild roast Colombian, 2 parts Geisha with a light roast, and Bourbon with a medium roast. Not sure if you are up for my usual strength. You might want to cut it with water or milk. We have exceptional water quality available to us.”

“I’m sure I can handle your strength. I think...maybe? Let’s take a look.first. Better to not look like a fool if I can help it.”

“Well, guests go first. I can answer any questions.” We arrived at the fridge. There was a weird shimmery bubble about a meter-ish square in front of the fridge, it was part of a rectangle that covered the fridge as well. Erin boldly stepped into it. The ‘image’ of her distorted like a blur or Erin colored smear. There was an audible pop as she stepped out with a large pitcher of a very dark syrup-like viscous liquid. “That is still a weird experience. Although there are some funny ‘blurs’ or crossovers that happen, it should be safe. You still gotta worry about a shared space being quantum entangled. For instance, my head maid likes my coffee and it can literally disappear from her hand if I am in here and grab it just before she grabs it. Things move so fast here, it looks like magic out there.” Noticing my dumbfounded expression she kindly began explaining it. “This a transposition field. It forces a synced quantum state object, in this case, the fridge, to be looped into here. It exists native to that time but can be ‘entangled’ to this time. So if I step across the boundary...which feels really weird, you can interact with it. Once you move back through the barrier, the objects become natively attuned to this time space. Now if I left this here all day, when I put it back, it would act as if it aged a day in just an hour. We don’t age at an advanced rate though, due to Aether being pumped into our systems as part of our entanglement. It slows our aging, much like it does in the SpEc zones. The Jacks are practically elvish in nature if we look at life spans. “

“The more I learn, the more I feel like I took most of these changes for granted. I mean... I know many of the things you’re talking about only because I heard them here and there over the last couple of years, but I didn’t understand the sheer scope of what was going on. The world changed for me overnight, and I thought I managed okay, but it feels like I’m more behind than I thought. Thanks for taking the time, and not belittling me.”

“I won’t belittle you the first time, but after that no more freebies. I hate repeating myself.” She said with a wink as she prepared her coffee. “I do 4 parts coffee to 2 parts water, a dash of coconut creamer, and a dusting of cinnamon and lightly sweetened cocoa dust. I also like it plain, but that’s a ‘first thing in the morning’ kind of thing for me.”

“Can I try a shot of the cold press concentrate?”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn ya that it’s strong.”

I took the little espresso thimble of coffee and sipped and aerated it across my tongue. I noticed the smooth fruitiness of the Geisha, the light almost vanilla-like sweetness of the bourbon, all rounded out with the earthy richness of the Colombian. There was just a little hint of the barest hint of coffee bitter from the Colombian, but that just improved the depth. I was taken aback by the masterfully blended union. I took one more sip, before tossing the rest back. This was the good stuff that I splurged on for special occasions. This could ruin me. How do I go back to regular coffee after ‘day’ in and ‘day’ out of this stuff? Erin clearly noticed that I was clearly taking in and appreciating the coffee on multiple levels. She caught my grimace before I could respond.

“What’s wrong?”

“I think you might ruin me. This is what I sometimes splurge on for special occasions. How am I going to go back to my ‘normal’ coffee after this day in and day out!”

“I said I was going to get you there. I plan on assigning myself as your operator after this. You can have all the coffee you want.”

A tear welled up in my eye. It was just a simple thing like coffee, but it was the little things that often really allowed those big ideas to hit home, to really sink in I had someone else in my corner. Someone else watching my back. I might just make it there. “If your taste in beer is a good as this coffee, I might just have to marry you.” I just said it. My brain didn’t process it. Just one of those stupid things you say to exaggerate how you feel about something, but I could tell Erin was thinking about it. I couldn’t tell if it was happy or just confused about how to feel about these events unfolding. I pulled myself together. “I’ll have what you're having. That looks good.”